Taking Chances
by rikalynch
Summary: "Life's about taking chances, right? This should be about taking chances too, even though we're dead." Neff, Klaine


**Title: **Taking Chances  
><strong>Author: <strong>kailamatoso/accioledoublestuf**  
>Summary: <strong>"Life's about taking chances, right? This should be about taking chances too, even though we're dead." Jeff, Nick, Wes, David, and Blaine are faced with the hardest choices of their existence. Stay on Earth, or risk going to Hell in hopes they wind up in Heaven.  
><strong>Pairings: <strong>Nick/Jeff, Kurt/Blaine  
><strong>Characters: <strong>Jeff, Nick, Blaine, Kurt, Wes, David, Burt, Carole, Mr/Mrs. Anderson.  
><strong>Warnings: <strong>...Character death, un-beta-d.  
><strong>Word count: <strong>~4500  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>Just playing in RIB's sandbox.  
><strong>Author's notes: <strong>Kurt never transferred back to McKinely in _Born This Way. _

x-x-x-x-x

_Wake up, _his mind screamed at him. He willed himself to listen, blinking slowly and taking in his surroundings. He was in his bed at Dalton, but it was different. The air around him was twice as thick as it normally was, and it was dark. _You must have slept late,_ his mind told him. He sat up, his body heavy. The room was silent. Beyond the open bathroom door, however, he heard hiccupping sobs. He stood with a frown on his face, approaching the archway between the two rooms. A boy sat on the floor, a pillow hugged to his chest.

Jeff recognized the boy as soon as they spoke. Kurt.

"Kurt?" He spoke. "Kurt." Kurt didn't look up. He shook and sobbed harder. Jeff furrowed his brows, advancing towards the boy. "Kurt, what happened?" He reached out to touch Kurt's shoulder.

"Don't touch him," a voice said from behind him. Jeff straightened and whipped around.

"Nick!" Jeff cried, stumbling towards the brunet. Nick took Jeff in his arms.

"Hey," Nick whispered. "Do you know where you are?"

"I-In my dorm," Jeff responded.

"Do you know _what_ you are?" Nick inquired softly. Jeff cocked his head in confusion. A few answers ran through his mind. _I'm a student. I'm your boyfriend. I'm a human._ "You're dead, Jeff." Nick said when Jeff struggled to reply. Jeff frowned.

"If I'm dead, then so are you."

"Precisely." Nick led Jeff back out to the bedroom, sitting him down on his bed.

"Why is Thad with Kurt?" Jeff asked as Nick sat beside him.

"Blaine's dead too." Nick folded his legs together. "So are Trent and Flint."

"What the hell happened?" Jeff squeaked.

"The bus we were riding to Sectionals crashed. Do you remember anything?" Nick grabbed Jeff's hand. Jeff shook his head and continued, "Kurt and Thad were some of the few who survived. The entire front of the bus was crushed. That's where you, me, Blaine, Trent and Flint were. Kurt, Thad and everybody else were in the back. They got away with a few scratches, and the kids closer to the front broke some limbs. Wes and David were there too..."

"Wait, Wes and David? They graduated though."

"They came to watch us perform. They were involved in the accident."

"What did the bus crash into?"

"Building."

"You're really calm about this," Jeff said with a look of panic on his face.

"Do you want to see Blaine?"

"Yeah." Jeff nodded. "How come he's not in here?"

"Because he couldn't stand to see Kurt upset. He hasn't gone near him since the accident. He died in Kurt's arms."

"What about us?"

"Same way. You realized what was happening and you took me into your arms, feeble attempt at protection, I suppose."

"I'm sorry," Jeff whispered.

"You couldn't save me."

"I could have tried."

"You did try."

"Not hard enough," Jeff whimpered.

"Forget it, Jeff. We're here together. Blaine needs us." Nick stood, taking Jeff's hand and leading him to where Blaine was. They soon found themselves in the senior commons where Warbler rehearsals were once held. They were temporarily cancelled until the next year, when they could find a new senior council.

"Blaine," Nick nodded at the boy sitting on the couch. "Gave Jeff the wrap."

"Cool," Blaine replied, staring into the distance. "Welcome to being dead."

Jeff sighed and sat down on the couch opposite Blaine. "Why are we here?"

"We died, Jeff," Nick replied.

"No, I mean why are we _here._ At Dalton. We didn't die here, we died where the bus crashed. Shouldn't we be there, or wherever our bodies are right now?"

"I don't know," Nick replied. "We haven't seen Trent or Flint, but they didn't board. Perhaps we just got sent back home?"

"I live with my parents," Jeff replied. "I should be there."

"You hated it there, though. Blaine hates his house, I hate mine, and Wes and David both live together in an apartment so it's not very homey."

Jeff shrugged. "Makes sense, I suppose. Have we had funerals yet?"

"Trent, Wes and David have. Flint's is today. Ours are tomorrow."

"Mine's tomorrow too," Blaine whispered. "I think it's a joint funeral. Eavesdropped on my parents talking to the both of yours."

"We can leave?" Jeff inquired. "How long was I out?"

"Since we died," Nick replied. "Which was two days ago. I was worried you weren't going to wake up. We tried everything."

Jeff _hmm_-ed and sighed. "Are we going?"

"I am," Nick responded.

"So am I. It's going to be hard, though." He sighed and crossed his legs. "It's going to be like an out-of-body experience, only we know we're dead. We're gonna actually see ourselves in the coffins... So is Kurt." His voice broke and a tear fell from his eye.

_Ghosts can cry? _Jeff inquired mentally. Nick frowned and rubbed Jeff's hand before moving to sit next to Blaine. "He loves you, you know that."

"I know he d-does," Blaine sighed. "I just really freaking miss him."

"He misses you too," Nick whispered. "Do you want to be alone?"

Blaine nodded, and Nick pursed his lips. "We'll be back in a few hours." He took Jeff by the hand and led him out of the room, kissing him softly once they got into the hallway.

"People can't see us, but we can see them," Jeff whispered.

"Correct," Nick said. "Wes and David are in the cafeteria. We can still play music, you know."

"Wouldn't that scare people?"

"The commons are on lockdown until next year, and they're soundproof. We can basically do whatever we want in there."

"So we can't change clothes, then," Jeff sighed. "Stuck in my Dalton uniform forever. Awesome."

"It's better than nothing," Nick responded, taking Jeff's hand again.

"I suppose." Jeff stopped to look up at a painting he had never noticed before. "What do we do, now that we're dead? Do we grow?"

"I don't know," Nick sighed. "I think we're going to stay like this forever."

"So there's no Heaven or Hell," Jeff said.

"There is," Nick sighed, sitting on the floor. "You've heard of the Grim Reaper, I presume."

"Yeah," Jeff nodded.

"Well we get that. There's a choice—we go to Heaven or Hell. We don't know where we're going until we get there. The reaper gives you the option to stay or go. If you choose to stay, you're stuck here for eternity. If you go, you either go to Hell, where you're probably going to get tortured to what would be human death. Heaven's probably almost as stereotypical as you see it. I don't know if we get reincarnated or not."

"Has the reaper talked to you yet?"

"No," Nick said. "She did talk to Wes and David, though. They told her they needed more time to think. She's yet to talk to anybody else, though. I think she talks to us after our funeral?"

"The reaper's a girl?"

"It was for Wes and David. It may be different for us."

"Oh," Jeff frowned. "What are you going to choose?"

"I don't know," Nick admitted. "I want to stay here with you forever, but... We might get caught in a loop. Eventually people go crazy."

"I see where you're coming from."

"But I don't want to go, either. What if I end up in Hell and you end up in Heaven?"

"If being gay's really a sin, we're both going to Hell."

Nick shrugged. "Blaine wants to go, because he doesn't want to have to stay behind and watch Kurt suffer. But he doesn't want Kurt to make a different decision when he dies."

"Let's hope they have the telepathy we do," Jeff sighed.

"It could have been broken when Blaine died."

"True," Jeff sighed.

"You're taking this really well," Nick commented after a few awkwardly silent minutes had passed.

"It's going really well. I didn't think life would be this _easy_ when I died. Do you think we still have basic human needs?"

"We're not human," Nick smiled. "We don't have them, because there's no room in our bodies for that anymore."

"You mean I can't _eat_ anymore?"

"You can," Nick replied. "I don't know what happens to it, though. I don't think our organs work anymore. We don't need to breathe, but we're so used to doing it that we do anyways. Our hearts aren't beating either. We can still cry and we still need to sleep, though."

Nick chuckled and stood, helping Jeff to his feet as well. "Can we do anything cool like teleporting?"

"I don't know," Nick shrugged. "I haven't tried it. We can walk through things, though!"

"Really?" Jeff said with an enthusiastic look on his face.

"Seriously," Nick said. "It's all a matter of your mind. Same with lifting things or levitating. You just have to... _Believe _you can lift it, or go through it." Nick walked over to the wall and put his hand through it. "See?"

"That's so effing cool," Jeff said. He tried a few times, hitting the wall at first. When he really focused, he got his hand into the wall up to his elbow. He pulled it out with a smile. "Have you learned how to levitate yet?"

"Yeah, but I suck at it. Wes and David mastered it. Blaine's good at telekinesis. He got a guitar from across the room. It was so cool," Nick smiled.

x-x-x-x-x

"I feel like a superhero," Jeff admitted after he had landed safely on the ground. After about an hour, he had mastered the basics of levitating from Wes and David.

"It's really cool. Did Nick tell you about the soul mate thing?" Wes said, sitting mid-air.

"No," Jeff sat on the floor. "What is it?"

"You didn't even tell _me,_" Nick said, sitting beside Jeff and taking his hand. Wes floated to the ground and sat on a table with David beside him.

"It's kind of like... I don't know how to explain it. It's almost like a giant handcuff. You know where your soul mate is all the time without even thinking. It's kind of like GPS." David smiled.

"So I know where David is," Wes said. "And you'll know where each other are."

"...Blaine will know where Kurt is, too. I don't know if it'll work for Kurt." David added softly.

"Since when are you two soul mates?" Nick asked quietly. "You're not even dating."

"We have an epic bromance." Wes smiled. "We never found true love, so I guess the bound just settled for second best."

x-x-x-x-x

It turned out that the boys could in fact, teleport. They spent the next twelve hours perfecting it. Jeff and Nick both landed in Brazil, twice, Wes and David in China. Blaine stayed in Ohio. He practiced teleporting to Kurt's house and to the place where the funeral was soon going to be held.

x-x-x-x-x

Twenty-four hours later, Wes, David, Blaine, Nick and Jeff were all at the funeral home. The showing room was huge on account of their joint funeral. Blaine was lingering in the back of the room, scanning the room for Kurt, even though he knew Kurt wasn't there yet. Wes and David were talking to each other in some language Jeff couldn't decipher, and Nick had wandered to the front where their bodies were. They had cleaned the blood off of their faces, but there were still a few scratches that were heavily coated in cover-up. It looked unnatural and stupid. Nick reached out and touched Jeff's pale skin, running his fingers through the unmoving boy's hair. Jeff popped up beside him with a questioning look, and Nick just shook his head. "Jeff," Nick finally whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Across the room, Blaine pushed himself further into the wall when he saw Kurt enter with his step-brother, step-mother and his father. He saw Kurt frowning and all but running towards Blaine's casket, throwing himself onto the ground in front of it and sobbing softly. Blaine followed with a sad look on his face, but stopped himself. Kurt couldn't see him, what was the point? He sat on the arm of one of the couches to the side of the room and watched his boyfriend cry. Kurt looked absolutely gorgeous. He was wearing a simple black suit, with a light purple tie. Blaine's favourite colour. Blaine found himself crying once again, wishing he could kiss Kurt one last time. They had been in a fight the last time they spoke, so colourful words were exchanged, as well as a few insults. Blaine wished to take it all back, to be able to tell Kurt he loved him.

"He really does love you," Jeff whispered from beside him.

"Don't remind me," Blaine sighed. "I shouldn't be here."

"He needs you." Jeff pursed his lips.

"He can't see me!" Blaine stood, pushing Jeff away from him. Jeff walked back to Nick, taking the boy's hand.

"Can everybody in attendance please take a seat?" The priest at the front of the room spoke into a microphone. "Family members in the front." It proved to be awkward, seeing as there were triple the amount of family members, but it somehow worked out. Jeff and Nick stood to the side, leaning against the wall. Wes and David were in the back, and Blaine was standing in the hallway, his head in his hands. Kurt had been crying the whole time, not talking to his family, just staring off into space. Kurt was now sat three rows from the front at the very end, as close to Blaine's body as he could get.

As soon as the service ended, Kurt ran straight to the bathroom. Blaine, who had been standing off to the side, followed him quietly. Kurt locked himself into a stall and leaned against the door, sobbing softly into his sleeve. Blaine, not wanting to make any noise, walked through the door and leaned against the sink. Kurt exited the stall a few minutes later, stopping dead in his tracks as soon as he got out. Blaine was standing there in front of him, clear as day. There was no reflection of him in the mirror. "Blaine?" He whispered hesitantly.

"Kurt," he whispered in reply.

"Blaine, it's really you?"

Blaine nodded, and Kurt stumbled forward. He held his hand out, and Blaine touched his to Kurt's hesitantly, hoping he didn't go through his boyfriend. If he did, Kurt would think he was just hallucinating. Their hands finally collided, and Blaine let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. Hell, he didn't even know he was breathing. Kurt's lower lip quivered, and then he threw himself into Blaine's arms. Blaine kissed him on the cheek softly, and then pulled Kurt in for a slower, sweeter kiss. "I'm okay," Blaine whispered.

"How come I can see you?" Kurt asked quietly. Blaine walked toward the door and locked it so nobody else could come in.

"I-I think it's the soul mate thing Wes and David told me about. D-Did you feel like you... I don't know, _knew_ where I was all the time?"

"I-Yeah," Kurt replied, sitting on the counter. "I knew you were at Dalton when I was, but I brushed it off. I kept telling myself, _no, he's dead. He's not here, it's your imagination._"

"Well, it's not your imagination. Could you see Jeff or Nick? They were standing by the caskets the whole time."

"No, only you."

"It's definitely the soul mate thing, then." Blaine sat next to Kurt on the counter, holding his hand. "When you find your soul mate, your souls literally connect. I think the only reason you can see me is because part of my soul is right here," he poked Kurt's chest. "With you."

"Will I stop being able to see you?"

"If you ever let go of me, then yeah."

Kurt bit his lip. "I'll never let go, Jack," he smiled a little.

"Cornball," Blaine smiled. He leaned in and kissed Kurt softly. "I think I'm spiritually bound to Dalton or something. I woke up there. Nick, Wes, David and I were in the commons. Jeff was in your guy's room, and we haven't seen Trent or Flint since the accident."

"I'm staying at Dalton, then," Kurt sighed. "I should get back out there... Will I see you when it's done?"

"I'm going right back to Dalton after this," Blaine said. "If you're going home, I can go there. I can be wherever I want to."

"Then how come you're not in Paris or somewhere cool?"

"Because there's nowhere better than with you," Blaine hopped off of the counter, taking Kurt's hand. He kissed Kurt softly.

"Will you come home with me tonight, then?"

"Yeah," Blaine said.

"Perfect," Kurt smiled. He left the bathroom with Blaine beside him. Blaine grasped Kurt's wrist as they walked. They re-entered the room and Kurt found himself engulfed in hugs by some of his McKinely friends that knew Blaine. Blaine walked away and over to where Jeff and Nick were speaking in hushed tones, their foreheads pressed against each other's.

"He can see me," Blaine whispered. "He can freaking see me!"

Jeff jumped up. "He can?" Blaine nodded. "Dude, that's effing amazing!"

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be talking to him?" Nick asked. "What if you make the decision to go? He'll be alone again."

"I'm not going anywhere." Blaine said. "I'm staying here with him."

"What about when he dies? What if he wants to go?"

"That's his choice. I'm taking what I can get for the time being. I'll talk it through with him tonight."

"Okay," Nick agreed. "Did you get that kiss?"

"Yes," Blaine replied. He looked over to Kurt and gave him a sheepish wave. Kurt almost responded, then used the hand to run his fingers through his hair, turning to the small group of New Directions behind him. The rest of the Warblers had gathered in the opposite corner, talking about their favourite times in the Warblers.

"Do you think we can still have sex?" Jeff said, and Blaine sputtered. "What? I died a virgin!"

"Jeffie, I don't think Blaine needs to hear this discussion."

"I know he wants to know."

"I don't intend on having sex with Kurt. I'm dead, that's sort of like necrophilia." Blaine rolled his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure necrophilia only counts if you're doing it with a dead _body,_ not soul."

"Touché," Blaine sighed, walking towards his boyfriend. Kurt was standing in between Burt and Carole, talking to Blaine's parents. Blaine stood behind Kurt, putting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder and wrapping his arms around Kurt's chest, listening in on their conversation. He kissed Kurt on the neck while his father spoke.

"Kurt," Mr. Anderson started. "I-I just wanted to thank you for coming. I understand I haven't been nice to you in the past, and I'm truly sorry. I-I guess I didn't realize what was right for Blaine. I couldn't have asked for him to have anybody better in his life." Blaine felt a tear fall from Kurt's eye onto his arm, and he kissed his boyfriend's neck again.

Kurt nodded and smiled sadly, and Mrs. Anderson spoke. "We are truly happy Blaine had you, we know he really did love you. He talked about you every day. I think you were truly his sunshine," she wiped a tear from her eye.

"She's not lying," Blaine whispered into Kurt's ear. Kurt nodded to Mrs. Anderson, and began to speak softly.

"Thank you," he said, barely above a whisper, his voice slightly cracked from crying so much. He walked away from the group, hearing Carole comment on Mrs. Anderson's shoes as he left. Blaine walked beside him, and Kurt stopped next to Blaine's casket. "You still look beautiful," he whispered brokenly, and Blaine frowned.

"Kurt, you can still see me, right?"

"Yes," Kurt nodded. "You look like this," he pointed to Blaine's body. "You have scratches all over your face. Can you see yourself in the mirror?"

"No," Blaine sighed. "The other boys are like that too. Small price to pay, I guess." Kurt nodded. "You go be with your family, okay? I'll see you later on tonight. We need to talk... But I don't think it's a good idea to do it here. People might think you're talking to yourself."

Kurt sighed. "Alright. I love you," he let a tear fall from his face, reaching out and smoothing out Blaine's curls. He leaned down and kissed Blaine softly on the forehead. He frowned, and then took his tie off, putting it in the casket next to Blaine.

"Why?" Blaine asked.

Kurt's reply was soft, barely audible: "Just in case."

x-x-x-x-x

At ten o'clock, Kurt was back at home on his bed, in Blaine's arms. They were rocking slowly, not speaking. Neither boy wanted to break the silence, so neither boy did. Kurt eventually fell asleep in Blaine's arms. Blaine felt his mind being assaulted with the memory of dying in Kurt's arms, and he sighed, willing himself to sleep.

They woke up the next morning to the sun beating down on their faces. Kurt's dad had left him a note on his bedside table that said, _Left for work. Carole should be home around eight and Finn will be back tomorrow. I'll see you at nine. Call me if you need me, okay? –Dad_. Blaine kissed Kurt softly, and Kurt closed his eyes again.

"I don't want to wake up yet," Kurt said, his voice hoarse. "I just want to lay here with you."

"Can we talk?" Blaine asked. Kurt nodded, and Blaine sighed a little. "So I get to make my decision today."

"What decision?"

"Whether to stay or go."

"Stay... Here, on Earth?"

"Precisely. I either stay on Earth, with you, or I go. I don't know whether I'm going to Heaven or Hell until I actually get there."

"I think you should go," Kurt sighed. "It beats staying here with me forever. I get boring pretty quick."

"I'm staying," Blaine said. "With you."

"Are you sure?" Kurt swallowed.

"I'm positive. I want to stay with you forever. I love you."

"I still think it's a terrible idea. You should go. I'll meet you in Heaven when I die." Kurt kissed Blaine's forehead.

"What if I go to Hell?" Blaine frowned.

"That's highly unlikely."

"I need to be with you, Kurt." Blaine wiped the tear that fell from his eye.

"You don't," Kurt replied softly. "I'll meet you up in Heaven when I die."

"That's not going to be for a long time," Blaine whispered.

"You don't know that. I could die tomorrow."

"Or it could be in seventy years."

"Or seventy seconds."

"I'm staying."

"I'm going when I die. I'm pretty sure the reaper isn't going to give you a second choice." Kurt looked Blaine in the eye. "Let's make this easier. Meet me at Dalton in two days. Tell the reaper you need more time to decide."

Blaine blinked and frowned. "No."

"Why not?"

"I don't trust you not to do something stupid."

"My plans are always foolproof. Go, Blaine. I'll be okay." He kissed Blaine softly, and Blaine nodded before disappearing.

x-x-x-x-x

Jeff and Nick were in the common room. They each had a guitar in their hands, and Jeff was teaching Nick how to play barre chords. "This is really tough," Nick sighed, looking at his fingers. "And it somehow hurts. I'm dead. How the hell am I feeling pain?"

"I don't know. These guitars are out of whack anyways. Want to make out instead?" Jeff smiled.

"I thought you'd never ask." Both boys put their guitars back where they found them, and Jeff tugged Nick by the hips. Their lips crashed together, hands intertwining in each other's hair. Jeff suckled slowly on Nick's lower lip, and Nick chuckled into the kiss.

"I'm glad I get to spend the rest of forever with you," Jeff murmured onto Nick's lips.

Nick frowned a little and pulled away. "So you're staying?"

"If you are. I-I don't want to risk going. I want to stay with you forever." Jeff rested his forehead on Nick's.

"I think we should go... Life's about taking chances, right? This should be about taking chances too, even though we're dead."

x-x-x-x-x

"So," Wes said from across the small room he and David were in. "Are you staying or going?"

"I-I don't know, Wes," David blinked slowly. "I don't want to risk being away from you."

"I don't want to risk staying, though. What if we go crazy? I don't want to start killing people."

"So we're going?"

"I want to stay."

"So we're staying?"

"...I want to go."

x-x-x-x-x

The reaper came to Blaine first. "Staying or going?" She inquired simply.

"I need more time to think about it."

"You have a week. Summon me when you figure it out. Otherwise, I choose for you."

"Thank you."

x-x-x-x-x

"No matter what happens, I love you," Jeff whispered to Nick softly. "No matter where we go... Or stay."

x-x-x-x-x

Blaine patiently waited out the two days Kurt told him to. Exactly forty-eight hours after, Blaine was sitting on a bench outside, watching the students file in for a new week. Everybody had gotten two days off, including the teachers and other faculty, so all of the boarders and non-boarders alike were coming back in.

"It looks beautiful outside," Kurt commented from behind Blaine.

"Shouldn't you be going to class?" Blaine didn't tear his eyes away from the students.

"Dead people don't go to school."

x-x-x-x-x

"This is it, then," Jeff said, a devastated look on his face. Nick's expression mirrored Jeff's, panic filling both of their eyes.

"Yes," the reaper replied. "I can't stand the looks on your faces right now. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I guess I will. If you do go, you'll both be going to the same place. I can't tell you whether it's Heaven or Hell, though."

x-x-x-x-x

"So, what will it be?" The reaper asked Wes and David, their faces wearing matching feared expressions. "Staying or going?"

x-x-x-x-x

"Kurt!" Blaine stood up, an angered look on his face. "You killed yourself?"

"It seemed reasonable at the time," Kurt mumbled, kicking at a leaf on the ground.

"I can't believe you," Blaine whispered.

"I just wanted to be with you forever," Kurt replied. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't gonna bring you back."

"There's nowhere I'd rather be than with you."

x-x-x-x-x

"I'm going."

"Ditto."

"Very well, then," the reaper nodded at the duo.

That was the last Jeff or Nick ever saw of Dalton.

x-x-x-x-x

"I'm going," David bit the inside of his cheek. "Wes?"

"Going."

"Excellent choice."

x-x-x-x-x

"Ah, Blaine. I see you've made your choice, then?" The reaper said. "Oh, who's this?"

"Kurt," Kurt replied softly. "I-I've made my choice too."

"Outstanding! What will it be?"

"We're going."

x-x-x-x-x

_**Merci beaucoup **_**in advance for feedback, reviews [and likes/reblogs/replies].**


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